July 5, 2011

Before the three-day weekend, quite a few people hinted that the Internet should maybe expect a surprise July 4 release of Watch The Throne, the Jay-Z/Kanye West collaborative album that’s been the subject of much chatter for months now. That didn’t exactly pan out, but the dawn of America’s birthday did bring about the opportunity for people to pre-order the album via its official site. It’s available in four editions—standard CD, deluxe CD, standard MP3, deluxe MP3—although not on vinyl, which seems somewhat curious given the nu-gilded-age art (designed by Givenchy Creative Director Riccardo Tisci). Maybe that’ll come later?

Other than those configuration options, details on the release are scant, although Rap-Up claims that Ryan Seacrest was touting a July 11 release date for the album’s first single and MTV notes that the ship date on preorder receipts is listed as August 2.

Kanye spent part of the weekend performing at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.